Saturday, 21 April 2007

Well, thank goodness the resurrection of Lasang Pinoy coincided with my re-entry into the fold of Pinoy food blogging. It was fortuitous enough for me to have a post waiting for a chance to be published. This edition is hosted by Afbeercan of Eat Matters - a food blog with beautiful delectable pictures.

More than a month ago, Stel and Sha were witness to my obsession with custards at the time. I baked daan tart (Chinese egg tarts) - the delectable kind you find in dimsum trolleys. A Chinese dim sum cookbook (with English translations of course) was whipped out and I followed the recipe to the letter. My kids were eagerly awaiting the tarts, anxiously peering through the oven glass door. Five minutes after I took it out of the oven they were gobbling it up. They only ate one each and left the rest to completely cool off. But when it did it was met with "Yecchh! It's green !" Indeed, the custard turned greyish-green. Hahaha! It was all right when I tasted it but had that very unappetising colour of molting fungus. Did I overcook it? Could it be that the only ingredients of the custard are egg yolks and syrup? I didn't try to find out because I've just about given up on having a 'eureka' moment for daan tart (that was my fourth experiment).

Instead I turned my obession to egg pies. You know, that type of custard set on a pastry case. Of course my earliest memories of these would be the one you get from bakeries on the Philippines - less eggy more on the milky side set on sweet shortcrust crumbly pie shell with a very dark skin on top. Lately in my travels here and in France I would encounter something similar various names - creme tart, creme flan, nature flan, custard tart, etc. but it would always be that same custard on a pie crust. Although I have to admit the European model is more on the eggy side.

My search for a recipe in the internet started several years ago but I can't find a decent one. Then when I was flicking through various cookbooks that has been neglected gathering dust in the book shelves, I came upon Gordon Ramsay's Sunday Lunch cookbook. (Even though I abhor his constant swearing on the telly, his recipes has been very reliable, quite accurate and really works based on my experience.) He has in there a custard pie recipe which I didn't lose time in adapting and trying out. It turned very very successful ! At last my long lost egg pie/creme flan/creme tart I've found you !

I will have to make it another time without the beating of the egg whites. Let's see if adding whole eggs without beating it separately will result in the same delicious pie. Take note, this is not exactly like the commercial version we buy in the Phils. This is a more eggy version which for me is preferable. Try to use the best possible eggs and milk. If budget permits organic, go for it. As always, the quality will shine through the finished product.